As the Wheel Turns, It Gets Drawn Through the Mud

7 days is the longest I’ve ever gone without making a post, and it’s not something that I ever want to repeat, but I’m sure you all will be gratified to hear that I’ve at least got a good excuse. See, I found out yesterday that my hours are being dramatically cut back at my job.

This isn’t one of those, “Oh, the economy is doing poorly, we’re all tightening our belts” sorts of things. This is a case of dramatic mismanagement, a complete lack of a business plan, and an inability for my company to compete in a changing marketplace. I won’t get into specifics, but I feel like everything that’s happened to me was completely avoidable. I get to keep full-time status, benefits, and vacation, but I’m still losing about 25% of my income.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however. I’ll be getting one more day off a week, and in addition to that, I’ll be telecommuting two more days. That means tremendously more time to write, almost as much as if I were only working part time. In spite of all the turbulent times, I can see this as kind of a golden opportunity. I figure, if I can get myself in the writing mindset now, then I could do it full time, as a professional. Not only will my production speed up dramatically, but it’ll be a chance to shift my entire mindset into professional mode.

Maybe I’ll even make a sale. In fact, now is as good a time as ever to actually submit something, terrifying as that prospect is.

On a more regular note, I’ve taken a break from Fugitives from Earth this week to write the first draft of my short story for the NIWA anthology I mentioned before. I don’t have a title for it yet, but here’s the breakdown: there’s a violent murder in the orbit of Saturn’s moon Titan, which is home to a technologically advanced colony comprised mostly of uplifts (that is, animals bred/engineered into human-level intelligence). The victim, “resurrected” as a clone, charters the main characters to find out how he died and who killed him.